The Magic Dance
by RIPZiggyStardust
Summary: Sarah knew going to her Senior Prom alone would be miserable, but with a silent wish and an unexpected dance partner, she may find herself in an even more frightening situation. For nothing is more frightening than love.
1. Chapter 1

The Magic Dance

Summary: Sarah knew going to her Senior Prom alone would be miserable, but with a silent wish and an unexpected dance partner, she may find herself in an even more frightening situation. For nothing is more frightening than love.

"Crap," Sarah sighed wiping the eyeliner away with her finger. A faint black line still remained, running into her eye shadow. "Now I've got to start all over," She grumbled under her breath, reaching for a baby wipe. Sarah had only a month left of High School, one more month of goofing off and ditching because you're a "Senior" and "You can do that now". For Sarah the end of schooling could not have come more quickly. She only had a few friends, meshing rather well with a few of the drama kid rejects. They were always nice to her, but she never felt truly connected to any of them, she hadn't made any real friends since--.

_Don't even think about that Sarah!_

She told herself as the thought crossed her mind. The _thing _that occurred when she was 15 was only holding her back now. Only children believed in those sorts of things and she had often wished and wondered if the whole thing had been a dream. In the past year she had tried her best to forget about it, try to move on, and try to grow up. Yet in her heart she knew it was real and that was the scariest thing. Ever since then she had always expected _him _to show up at her door or find herself trapped in the Labyrinth's walls again, desperately trying to find a way out…or in.

Her thoughts were interrupted as her step-mother burst into her room.

"Sarah you've got 10 minutes or I'm leaving without you!" She barked. Her hands were placed firmly on her hips and she sported an unfriendly look on her face.

"Go ahead! I don't want to go to this stupid Prom anyways!" Said Sarah pouting dramatically.

"Oh God, not this again! I told you _every _girl your age _has _to go to Prom! If you had been a better sport about it then maybe you could have gotten yourself a date, but no, you had to--"

"I wouldn't want a date anyways! All the boys at my school are…"

"What? Not good enough? Better get used to girlie because boys aren't like the princes you read about in your fairy tale books. If you keep waiting for one to come riding up on a noble steed, you're going to end up old and alone!" Her Step-mother fumed. Sarah and her step-mother never got along. Sarah believed in romance, and her step-mother believed in 'love'. The kind of love that you have to convince yourself of.

"That's not the reason!" Sarah retaliated. "I just wished they were more…generous…." The adjective came out of her mouth before she could even think it, leaving her wondering where that came from.

"I don't want to hear this anymore, this conversation is over and I expect you to be in that car in," She glanced at her watch, "six minutes". She rushed out of the room just as quickly as she had entered it.

Sarah stared at her reflection in the mirror. She began applying the eye makeup again until it looked adequate, knowing that there would be no one there who she would care to impress. She could hear the car door opening in the driveway outside and she knew she had about three minutes before she would be stranded at home alone like always. It was only due to the fact that her Step-Mother had to pick up Toby from a friend's house that she was willing to give her a ride.

Yes, even Toby, age four, had better friends than Sarah. What a pity.

Sarah got up from her seat in front of the mirror and did a full body check of how she looked. Her dark hair, always long, was nicely curled with a flower hair pin gracefully tucked into it. Her dress seemed a little too fancy even for the Prom. It was a white dress with ruffled short sleeves and a slanted cut skirt. It had light blue trim around the edges but from far away it just looked white. She looked beautiful, like the princess she had always wished she was. She looked over to her window to see if her step-mother had left yet, but just as she did the tree outside her room wobbled slightly and she could distinctly hear the sound of wings beating.

_Strange._

---------Later At the Prom---------

Sarah waited patiently in line, her invitation/ticket gripped tightly between her fingers. Her stomach was full of butterflies and she wondered if she was going to get sick, or sweat too much, or---

"Sarah, hi! You look so pretty," A voice called from in front of the line. It was Patti Glenn, one of the more friendly popular girls and also leader of the prom committee. She was sitting at the front table taking the invitations from the students and making sure they weren't violating the dress code. "Where's your date?" she asked.

"I uh…I don't have one," She said embarrassed.

"Oh, well, that's fine too," Patti flashed a sympathetic smile, but her eyes showed a flicker of pity.

Sarah entered the courtyard where a gazebo sheltered a few tables and an array of appetizers. Kids from her school littered the area; some circled in their little cliques, others hogging the appetizers, and of course several couples making out in various corners. She could faintly hear music playing and followed it to a dance floor covered with teenagers.

"Let's Dance!—Put On Your Red Shoes and Dance the Blues….Let's Dance! To The Song They're Playing on The Radio….."

_At least the DJ's got taste._

Sarah stood on the edge of the dance floor alone, looking for a friendly face. She didn't particularly like dancing but they were playing her favorite song, and it did look like fun.

"Sarah over here!" A voice called from across the dance floor, barely audible over the booming music. It was Sherri, one of her drama friends. She beckoned Sarah over.

"Hey, you're here, I thought you wouldn't show!" Sherri smiled. She was with a boy Sarah didn't know, but by the looks of it he was an underclassman complete with acne and glasses. Sarah's other friend Nancy was with them too, she also was with a boy. Nancy's date was a boy Sarah knew too well, his name was George, and he used to throw rocks at Sarah when she was in Middle School.

"Come on Sarah, Let's Dance," Nancy giggled pulling her on to the dance floor, Sherri and the boys followed. They started with just goofing off and dancing in a group, everyone taking turns at pulling some hilariously old school dance moves. Just when her spirits were starting to rise and a smile finally made its way to her face, the song ended. The new song was much, much slower and everyone started pairing off. Sarah looked to her friends for help, but both of them were locked onto their dates. Suddenly Sarah was reminded of why she didn't want to come to Prom.

Feeling like she didn't belong—knowing that she didn't belong on the dance floor, Sarah left the now even more crowded dance floor. The courtyard was practically empty, all except for the random couples heavily making out, too 'in love' to even dance. Sarah ran to a tree that seemed vacant of any hormonal teenagers. The air was cold and for some reason Sarah was much more upset than even she thought reasonable.

_I wish I wasn't here alone._

A gust of strong cold wind whipped by her causing the tree to shake. Sarah, trying to keep warm, thought it might be better to stay close to the dance floor in case her friends had finally tore themselves away from their dates long enough to notice she was upset. Yet when she reached the dance floor again, she lingered at the edge, unable to enter the actual ballroom. Her eyes searched the crowd for Sherri or Nancy, but she couldn't find them. Across the dance floor though, something else caught her eye. A bolt of fear and shock ran through her body and rendered her unable to move or speak.

There, at the opposite end of the room, was a familiar face that she only visited in her memories and her dreams. It was _him _the Goblin King, Jareth. His wild mane-like hair was unmistakable and even from across the room, the smirk on his face was apparent. He moved towards her effortlessly, gliding across the dance floor undisturbed by the hoards of teenagers moving about. His eyes locked on to her. He stopped only a foot or two away from her and bowed.

"Would you honor me with a dance?" He said dreamily. Still bent from bowing, he raised his head to meet her shocked gaze. His eyes, frightening, crazy, and utterly beautiful had her hypnotized. A clever smirk spread across his face, leaving Sarah unsure whether to scream or swoon. Jareth got up from his bow and took her hand in his, kissing it lightly before letting it rest again at her side. She remained speechless.

"Come now Sarah, you may have grown up quite a bit since we first met, but I know you still remember the _dream_," he practically purred.

A rush of memories flew through Sarah's mind. A ballroom, full of people she didn't know, a frightening new experience, apprehension spreading through her body until…she saw _him. _But how did Jareth know of that, she was certain it was only a dream. Could he have possibly been there with her, holding her affectionately and safely in his arms as they twirled together across the dance floor? She blushed defensively as the thought crossed her mind.

"And I know you haven't stopped thinking about it since," He added.

"What are you doing here?" She finally murmured, nearly inaudible. Fear apparent in her voice.

"You wished it and I appeared. You're the only one with the power to summon me into your world," He cocked his head slightly. "At least in this form," He whispered.

Sarah thought back to the beating of wings outside of her window. How many times had she spotted an owl watching her from a lamppost while she walking home? Or just outside her classroom's window? And all the times she had spotted one on the tree right outside her own window? She knew he was lurking close, but she never thought he was _that _close.

"I respect your privacy of course, but I always stayed near in case you ever wished to return to the Underground, which you didn't, but I never gave up hope."

"I've never been free of you…I've never been free from the Labyrinth," She breathed, her voice trembling.

"You've never been free of it because it's where you belong, look around you, you don't belong with these people. You belong in a world of fantasy like you've always dreamed. You belong in a Kingdom that will heed your every word. And you should belong to a man who will treat you as a Queen," Sarah expected him to smirk at the remark but instead he remained very serious, catching her a little off guard.

"What do you want from me?" She finally whimpered.

"A dance," said Jareth. And with that he took her hand in his and led her out to the center of the dance floor, her heart beating loudly in her chest.

-------------End Chapter One---------------

Author's Note: To anyone who reads this, thank you! It's my first Labyrinth Fan fiction and I'm rather proud of the result. I watched Labyrinth only a few months ago due to a huge David Bowie obsession (I literally watched every movie he was in) and fell in love with it. I don't want to give away too much about the plot just yet, but it will basically become apparent at the end of chapter 2. Please review, and once again, thanks!


	2. Chapter 2

The Magic Dance

Chapter 2

"Just a dance," he assured her in his silky voice.

Much to her own surprise Sarah followed him, her hand tingling from the warmth of his. Her head was swimming with thoughts. Part of her wanted to scream for help, part of her wanted to wake up from what she was sure had to be a dream, and another part of her wanted his arms around her. To feel what it was like to be held in a man's arms, like lovers do. That was the scariest thing, that something inside of her _longed_ to believe Jareth's promises and fall for his charm. To be able to receive his affections instead of run from them.

_Are you crazy Sarah! He kidnapped Toby! He threw a snake in your face!!! He almost killed you and Hoggle! He's a villain, a bad guy, he's….._

Jareth turned to her finally, and with a slight tug of her hand, pulled her in close to him. His arms closed around her gently in a ballroom dancer's position, just like before in her dream. It was like Déjà Vu. She looked up at him, meeting his gaze, their faces only inches apart. She took in his features for a moment, but she always found herself staring back at his magnificent eyes.

_He's beautiful…_

Jareth raised his hand and with a wave of it, the music suddenly changed. The first few notes came chiming across the dance floor and Sarah immediately recognized the song. A clever smirk crossed Jareth's face.

"Our song," he said lightly. Sarah could feel her face getting hot, she must have been blushing.

Suddenly Sarah remembered something, she didn't know how to ballroom dance! The last time she had danced with Jareth was a dream, she didn't _really _know how to dance like that.

"Just follow my lead," he reassured her, as if he had read her mind. He stepped forward and she instinctively stepped back, her feet moving perfectly in time with his steps, as if they knew what to do even though Sarah didn't. Before she knew it they were dancing, gliding across the dance floor together, twirling in time with the music, their eyes never breaking gaze. For the moment, things felt almost right, and Sarah was filled with the same emotions that had filled her before in her dream. And it was _nice. _

"Falling…Falling…Falling In Love."

_Oh God Sarah, what has happened to you?_

The silence between them was intense and perfect; Sarah could have danced for hours before she realized even a minute had passed. Jareth's voice brought her back to the moment, knocking her out of her dream-like trance.

"Are you glad you wished for this?" He asked his voice very neutral.

Sarah didn't know how to answer that. Dancing with him was nice--, better than nice, it was _wonderful_. Yet she still had to wonder about his real intentions. He was clever and crafty, and Sarah was sure that he had more in mind than just being her dance partner at the prom. He probably wanted to kidnap---WAIT!

She was at the _prom!_ She had almost forgotten where she was when she was dancing with him. She broke away from his gaze, and looked around the room. Everyone was still there, dancing to the music. Jareth' voice brought her attention back to him.

"I ask because you never seem happy with my gestures," Said Jareth.

"Gestures? Everything you've done for me has just been awful," replied Sarah, a little anger started to rise in her, but it disintegrated as soon as she focused back on his eyes.

"I've done everything for you Sarah. Perhaps _you _don't know what it is you truly want," He said, cocking his head to the side again.

The statement made her think. He had a point, she _did _wish Toby away. Was it enough to make up for the things that happened in the Labyrinth though?

"Think back to when you were twelve, your father announced that he was going to get remarried. Do you remember what happened?" Jareth asked.

"I got mad at him," she recalled. She searched her memories for any clue of what he was trying to get at. "I told him she was a witch, but he didn't believe me and I got sent to my room."

"Do remember what happened after that?" He asked.

Sarah thought hard, it was six years ago! Still the news had devastated Sarah, making that day stick out in her memory while others faded over time. "I wished that someone actually cared about me," She recalled.

"Yes, and that was the first time I appeared at your window. Because you _wished _it. I watched over you as a guardian would, and as you grew into a young woman, I began to fall in love with you. Everything you wished for, I granted."

The statement made Sarah wonder what Jareth's true origin was. How long had he been the Goblin King? Was he a goblin or a man? There was something he was hinting towards, Sarah could tell by the way he tip-toed around questions, knowing the answer but trying to get her to figure it out herself. She probably could have figured it out too, but something had caught her eye and broken her train of thought.

Sarah noticed the other couples dancing around them. They were ballroom dancing too! This wasn't the 1800's; nobody danced like that anymore, especially at High School dances! Teens these days were extremely vulgar in their dance styles, something Sarah always thought was a pity considering how nice dancing with a partner could be. Like dancing with Jareth was.

_Stop staring at him Sarah and focus! There's something wrong here! People don't dance like this, think Sarah, think!_

"Jareth, what have you done?" Her voice shook a bit as the words left her mouth. She wanted to stop dancing and look around but Jareth still moved her around the dance floor, not breaking stride at all, even when he began to speak to her.

"Would you like to come back to the Labyrinth Sarah?" He asked calmly, still swaying her.

"No, no, _please _don't tell me you're taking me back there!" She pleaded.

"Listen to me Sarah, five days, just spend five days with me in the Labyrinth and I'll—"

"No! No, you're a filthy liar! You're always scheming! You'll bring me back there and I'll never be able to leave!" She cried.

"If you wish to return after five days I promise you—"

"No, let me go!" She screamed, pulling away from his hold.

"I wouldn't if I were you," He whispered, frustration apparent in his voice. Sarah looked at her feet to notice the floor was gone, below her was the night sky, the walls around her and all the dancers disintegrated into a sand-like state and fell through the emptiness until they were no longer visible. Sarah clung to Jareth for fear that she would fall.

"This is one of your tricks isn't it," She whispered into his chest.

"All just an illusion. From the moment you made that wish, I used my magic to pull you into an illusion," His voice seemed almost sad.

"This isn't fair! I wish…I wish—"She sobbed, a tear running down her cheek.

"If you wish me away, you'll be rid of me. But is that truly what you _want?_" He questioned.

He was right. She had almost wished him away. If he was gone she would never have to worry about getting sucked back into the labyrinth. She wouldn't have to worry about an owl perched being outside her window. And yet, she _couldn't _wish him away. Something in her stopped her from saying the words. Maybe Jareth was right, her emotions made her detest him, but perhaps deep inside of her she truly appreciated what he had done for her. She didn't want to completely lose her connection to the Labyrinth, because after all, it was something she had always wished for. A land of Fantasy and adventure, like one of her books.

"I'll make you a deal Sarah. If you stay with me for just five days in my kingdom within the Labyrinth, I will reorder time for you. If you wish to return to your dreadfully boring life, I will send you to your graduation day, at the end of your schooling. I know how you dislike it. Or you could remain in the Labyrinth with your friends and the people that _truly _care for about you," He brought her in for a comforting embrace which Sarah surprisingly did not fight.

"Just five days? What's going to happen to me in those five days?" She asked, trying to avoid any of his tricks. Sarah hated High School, she would have done anything to end it earlier, Jareth knew the perfect leverage.

"Nothing to harm you, I can assure you of that. But in five days I am almost certain I can convince you to stay in the Underground with me."

"No tricks?" She breathed, still wary of his ways.

"I promise," He said sincerely. A shadow of a smirk whipped across his face for an instant, but he quickly suppressed it.

"Do I have choice?" She sighed.

"Not in this I'm afraid," He said waving his hand. With that the night sky around them dissolved like smoke, within moments it was obvious they were within the castle beyond the Goblin City.

---------------End Chapter Two---------------

Author's Note: Thanks so much for the positive feedback! It really spurred me on to get chapter two finished quickly. I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint anyone, because I could see how parts of it might be confusing. I wanted to scratch the surface here of a bigger concept that I want to bring into the story later and I wasn't quite sure how to allude to that without making it super obvious of what I was getting at. Anyways, hope you enjoy! I'll try my best to update the story as often as possible! Thanks again readers!


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